Ab Fab PR

Flagship was recently invited by the PRCA to participate in a PR Master Class to share our experience working on the DLR campaign that was short-listed for a PRCA Consumer Award. Our campaign, based on our ‘Discover London’s Real’ theme, focused on our Lunchtime Runs campaign that encouraged commuters in the City and Canary Wharf to use the DLR as part of a lunchtime marathon training regime.

We had limited budgets so had to create partnerships with running clubs, spas and app developers to add an edge to our campaign. My colleague Will Brewster even went out jogging with a journalist (showing real commitment) in order to bring the project to life and get coverage in a key title. The pleasing part of the project was that DLR is able to show an increase in ‘rides’ so we can point to a real result.

We were followed by other PR professionals talking about their projects; the celebration the 50^th anniversary of the Football League Cup (the Carling Cup) and the other about how Cadbury’s leveraged its sponsorship of the 2012 London Olympics.

Both had their challenges and their opportunities, but what struck me most was how they were able to engage celebrities in supporting their campaigns. The Football League was able to use past and present footballers as well as linking with Coronation Street’s 50^th anniversary; whilst Cadbury’s pockets were a little deeper and they used the Sugababes to launch their Stripes and Spots game that was the focus of the campaign. I think chocolate also spoke ‘deeply’ to celebrity Tweeters who promoted the game.

Funnily enough we had wondered what else we would have done if we had had more budget and yes, we too would probably have thought about getting a celebrity involved. It says a lot for our society today that a ‘celebrity’ in a photo is worth a thousand words. Today it goes beyond the traditional media and spreads online immediately; their endorsement of goods and services is immensely valuable.

Anyway, I think our DLR campaign was even more creative because we could not just revert to using the ‘famous’ to help us. We had to rely on other old-fashioned PR techniques such as partnerships, competitions and media relations. And if we had used celebrities then we would never had had the pleasure of seeing Will in his running shorts on the front page of the City Wharf.